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Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#71

Post by Nursie »

delusional wrote: post #39
gambiting wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah except that Ofcom(the UK communications regulator) already said that the main goal of the Online Safety Act isn't about protecting children, it's about "controlling online discourse". They dropped that pretense literally one day after the act got passed. >>I am getting very intolerant of these conspiratorial comments Weird thing to brag about, but sure.

Would you mind linking to where you got that "controlling online discourse" quote. I am not able to find anything like that.

It comes from an article in the times - https://archive.ph/2025.08.13-190800/https://www.thetimes.co...

However the context is highly misleading, as in the original context it appears to be in reference to parts of the act that deal with content recommendation, not parts that deal with age verification -

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44910161

But as usual, that no longer matters in online discourse, it forms a soundbite that backs up the preconceptions of one side of an argument, that the whole exercise is nefarious, so it doesn’t matter if it’s actually true.

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#73

Post by cryo32 »

MagicMoonlight wrote: post #68
cryo32 wrote: post #57

I have seen some of the inside of this and it's not quite as clear cut. One side of this is driven by a bunch of not too reputable think tanks behind the scenes who persuaded a couple of fringe academics to agree with them and push for it via the civil service. The government is taking bad, paid for advice. I don't know what the agenda is there but there is one and I reckon it's commercial. Probably a consortium of b…

Bullshit. GCHQ loves new ways to spy. Being able to harvest all traffic is their dream. I’m sure they already do harvest it all. If they cared about privacy and security they wouldn’t be [redacted].

Their job is also to secure national infrastructure. Compromising that through policy would do more damage.

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#75

Post by redsocksfan45 »

RobotToaster wrote: post #47
speedgoose wrote: post #8

While their arguments are sound, Perhaps Mozilla should disclose in this document that they are also a VPN reseller.

This is the Mozilla foundation, the VPN seller is Mozilla corporation.

[dead]

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#76

Post by pretzel5297 »

867-5309 wrote: post #61
acd wrote: post #42

Actually with data fusion VPN does not fix privacy. Ad networks does data fusion of Javascript browser finger print. So you are de cloaked any way on a VPN

most vpns block ads

not if the fingerprint code is coming from the first party server which is the case for most modern malware.

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#77

Post by fartfeatures »

cryo32 wrote: post #73
MagicMoonlight wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit. GCHQ loves new ways to spy. Being able to harvest all traffic is their dream. I’m sure they already do harvest it all. If they cared about privacy and security they wouldn’t be [redacted].

Their job is also to secure national infrastructure. Compromising that through policy would do more damage.

There has always been tension in this area. A prime example is Dual_EC_DRBG https://harvardnsj.org/2022/06/07/dueling-over-dual_ec_drgb-...

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#78

Post by windowliker »

rvnx wrote: post #9

Interesting that they mention the UK but forget that the EU also wants to protect the kids by banning VPNs

This blog post is highlighting their specific contribution to the UK government's open consultation[1], not a general call for sanity. There's a link to their open letter at the end of the piece. No doubt they will write other authorities when the need arises.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-th...

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#79

Post by juleiie »

robotswantdata wrote: post #7

1984 was meant to be a warning, not the UK’s digital infrastructure roadmap

1984 is extremely naive.

It assumes that people will fight for their freedom and insane measures will be needed to keep them in check.

So foolishly optimistic… people can’t wait to give freedom away if only they get a stable job and housing in exchange. Or if it hits these other guys they don’t like at the moment.

It’s all much, much less dramatic than Orwell. It is an ordinary, everyday erosion of your rights until one day you will realize that you lost something very important but it will be no longer possible to say it out loud.

One such example is China where all dissent was eliminated because people there prefer comfortable cage. Or Singapore. Seemingly majority doesn’t give a flying dick as long as government buys them.

Maybe the Orwellian times were different but it is what it is. It’s easier than ever to just buy people.

Re: Mozilla to UK regulators: VPNs are essential privacy and security tools

#80

Post by abc123abc123 »

pretzel5297 wrote: post #74

[flagged]

This is the way! It is frightening how eagerly parents want to give up freedom for everyone, in return for not having to care about their offspring and the illusion of 100% safety.

I think the authoritarian trend accelerated during corona. Our western political nobility got a real taste for power, and they have not been able to free themselves from that afrodisiac ever since. Therefore chat control, 1, 2, 3, and when that didn't go as planned... lo and behold... age verification, and that of course needs control over vpn, and encryption, and there we go... chat control slipped in through the back door.

Soon we can no longer criticize china if this keeps up.

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